


got lips like sugar cane

by goldflower



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-05
Updated: 2013-03-05
Packaged: 2017-12-04 10:42:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/709861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldflower/pseuds/goldflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>niall's in love with a candy store and the workers there but maybe he's a little more in love with one of them</p>
            </blockquote>





	got lips like sugar cane

**Author's Note:**

> i apologize for the lack of louis in this

If there's one thing Niall can't pass up, ever, it's candy. His parents always warn him about how his teeth will rot up and then fall out by the time he's thirty, but he just shrugs and buys two more packs of skittles as a sort of silent way of saying fuck you I’ll eat what I want.

He has a big sweet tooth, he knows this, but it’s not his fault that they make candy so sugary and sweet and just plain delicious. It’s also not his fault that he found a candy store with great lollipops and sweets tucked away beside an old book store and guitar shop one day when he was running out of the rain. They don’t only sell the commercial candies either and everything’s pretty cheap, which Niall is really grateful for.

There’s a tall, thin girl with pretty hazel eyes and perfect hair that Niall was oddly jealous of the first day he met her, working there. Her voice is nice, sweet, and high-pitched and reminds Niall of maple syrup and the way his house back in Ireland always smelt in mornings. He learned that her name is Eleanor through all the giggles and jokes of Niall having to live in the candy store if the rain doesn’t pass up soon.

There’s a boy named Zayn who works there too. He’s all jet black hair, moody eyes, pouty lips, and tattoos, and Niall was kind of terrified of him, but Eleanor says he’s really a big sweetheart. Niall told them that they’re a cute couple and they laughed at him.

“We’re not dating.” Zayn manages through deep breaths and Eleanor nods her head in agreement before shaking it and dropping it down onto the counter, laughing into the magazine she was reading. Niall laughs awkwardly, feels his face heat up in embarrassment and contemplates leaving. He mutters a _sorry_ and turns to leave. He’s almost out the door when he hears a loud, sharp intake of breath.

“What are you doing, it’s pouring!” Eleanor yells and Niall looks up at the rain falling down before turning to tell her _it’s just water_ , but she’s there, pulling Niall back inside and closing the door behind them.

“You’re staying here until the rain lets up, and if it gets to closing time then I’m driving you home.” Niall nods and follows Eleanor back up to the counter. She jumps up and sits on it, crosses her legs, scoots over and pats the spot beside her for Niall to sit. Niall follows suit and Eleanor hands him a lollipop from the rack beside her when he’s settled. He starts to dig in his pocket for the few coins he needs to pay for the lollipop, but Eleanor’s giggle and hand on his arm stops him.

“Zayn’s in the back.” She says once she’s noticed Niall looking around. Niall nods in understanding and sucks on the lollipop she gave him. It’s really good.

She ends up having to drive him home and the drive is quiet, but it’s not awkward or anything and it’s nice, Niall thinks, Eleanor’s a nice person, wishes they’re friends. They pull up to his flat and he says thanks, gets out, waves once more to Eleanor, and goes inside.

___

The first thing Niall notices the next day when he walks into the candy store is the tall, lanky, curly-headed boy with the employee apron on standing behind the counter. He checks his memory, tries to remember if Eleanor mentioned an employee that wasn’t working yesterday, but comes up blank.

The boy looks at him and Niall notes that his eyes are green like the peppermint leaf candies he sees around during the holidays before giving him a small smile and walking up to one of the shelves to use as an excuse until Eleanor or Zayn come around.

He looks around the store after a while to see if one of them walked out, but sees no sign of either one of them and he starts to wonder if he even walked into the right candy store in the first place. The boy raises up an eyebrow in question when he sees Niall glancing at him and Niall hesitantly walks up to the counter, clearing his throat.

“Um, is Eleanor here? Or, um, Zayn?” There's slight hesitation in the other boy before he nods and jerks his head behind him.

“They're out back bringing in some of the candy that's just arrived for the season.” His voice is low and deep and silky and Niall instantly thinks of hot chocolate and whipped cream. He’s about to open his mouth to say something, _anything_ , when he hears a loud bang and a deep scream and the sound of something falling to the ground coming from the back room and the boy and Niall are rushing back there to see what it was.

They hear laughter and follow it and when they finally get to where the laughter was coming from they see Zayn on the ground pulling candy out of his hair and Eleanor in a heap next to a box that's tipped over and spilling candy onto the floor. She rolls on her back and her laugh gets louder and her face is red and Niall can't help but smile at the scene in front of him. In the corner of his eye he sees the boy biting his lip to keep from laughing and he thinks it's cute. _Really_ cute.

“Niall! You're here!” Eleanor says through the little giggles she still has after calming down a bit. She stands up and walks over to him, giving him a quick hug before turning around to help Zayn get the last piece of candy out of his hair that he keeps missing.

"I decided I can’t resist your lollipops." He says, laughing a little. Eleanor smiles at Niall then holds out her hands for Zayn to take and is helping him up when she nods over to the boy standing next to Niall.

“Looks like you met Harry, yeah? He just started working here, like, an hour ago.” Niall looks over at Harry and Harry gives him a little wave. Niall giggles, causing Harry to blush and looks back to Eleanor, smile splitting his face.

“He's adorable." He replies and Eleanor sees the way Harry hides his smile by looking down at his feet and she gives Niall a smirk.

___

“So what made you want to take up the candy business?” Niall's currently sitting on the counter, crossed legged, and licking at a lollipop he just bought—he was Harry's first costumer—while Harry’s putting some of the candy on the shelves. Zayn's in the back—probably sleeping—and Eleanor just got on her lunch break, so really it's only the two of them.

“Uh, I just needed extra money to help pay for my books, and food, and rent, and pretty much everything that costs money.” Harry replies a small smile playing at his lips.

“You should get a roommate. Things cost less then.” Harry lets out a loud laugh and nearly drops the chocolate truffles he was about to put on the shelf on the floor.

“I do have one; he makes me pay half of everything though.” Harry says his voice still laced with mirth. Niall crinkles up his nose and places the lollipop in his mouth.

“What is he, your husband?” He asks around the lollipop and Harry lets out another loud laugh. Niall smiles, thinks he could listen to Harry’s laugh all day. It’s sweet and makes Niall want to eat the fuzzy peaches to compare which is sweeter. He's pretty sure Harry’s laugh is sweeter though. _Way_ sweeter.

“No he just thinks that would be fair and all.” Niall laughs a little, mutters a ‘right’, and jumps down from the counter, walks up to Harry and places his hand lightly on his shoulder. Harry looks at him and smiles a small smile and Niall chokes on his breathe a little, waits a few seconds for his breathing to go back to normal before talking.

“I say you divorce him.” He says smoothly and pats Harry’s shoulder once before he walks back towards the counter and Harry's laughing again.

“And why do you say that?” Harry asks. His cheeks are beginning to hurt from how big his smile is.

“Because I want you to marry someone else.” Niall says, shrugging a little and jumps up on the counter, crossing his legs again.

“And who's that?" Harry’s voice is still laced with laughter and it's so sugary and sweet that Niall thinks he’s about to pass out. Niall shrugs a little again.

“Me.” Harry looks at him then and Niall notes how fast Harry’s face can turn red before he's looking away and has a shy small on his face.

“Maybe." He whispers and Niall smiles around the lollipop in his mouth.

“Maybe?" Niall asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“If you're sweet enough." Harry answers with a smile on his face as he places the chocolates on the shelf and Niall laughs.

___

It's been three weeks and Niall has done almost everything he could think of to make Harry think he’s sweet enough. He’s not sure why he’s doing it, it's not like he's actually going to marry Harry, it's just that.

Harry reminds Niall of his favorite candies and why he likes fall more than winter and spring more than summer and he reminds Niall of his favorite teddy bear when Harry's sleepy and rubbing at his eyes and. He just wants to prove to Harry that he _is_ sweet enough, okay.

Niall's sitting on the counter eating from the new stock of candy they just got and watching Harry put the rest on the shelves when Eleanor leans over the counter next to him.

“You fancy him, yeah?” She asks, quiet enough so Harry doesn’t hear.

“What?” his voice goes up a few octaves and he jerks his head to the side to look at her. They've never talked about things like this together, only, like, once when Niall was hyper and blurting out random things. He's pretty sure he told Eleanor that he thought Zayn was unreasonably pretty at the time. But that's not the point, it’s different this time and Niall’s not sure why or how it is, but it is, okay, and just. It’s different.

“You fancy him, you like him, you want to lick his pickle, you—.”

“What?” He asks laughing now. “I want to lick his pickle?” He mocks and when Eleanor smiles and nods her head his laughter gets louder.

“Yeah, you know his—.” She starts again but Niall interrupts her once more.

“I got it.” He says through staggered breaths and Harry looks over, smiling because Niall looks adorable when he laughs and it sounds so sweet like ripe blueberries and Harry thinks that Niall is about 25% sweet enough.

 It’s kind of an unsaid thing, the whole actually keeping track of Niall’s sweetness, and Harry’s not sure why he’s doing it, he doesn’t think Niall really cares at all, but then.

Niall brought him a bouquet of different colored orchids because Harry mentioned once that his sister Gemma received red roses from her boyfriend on her birthday and he thought it was really stupid because, really? Roses? How cliché can you be, he would prefer orchids or lilies or something less romantic and cheesy than _roses_ and he wasn’t being that serious, but Niall still got him them anyway and well.

He’s kind of been keeping track ever since.

___

When Harry walks in for his Saturday shift a week later, Niall's already there, lying on his back on the floor, eating the sugary blueberry candies Harry began to know he loves.

“What are you doing here so early?” Harry asks, confused because yeah, what _is_ he doing here. The store doesn’t actually open until two hours from now and last time Harry checked Niall didn’t work here. Niall looks over at him quickly before turning to look up at the ceiling again.

“El had to come in a few hours before anyone else and didn't want to be alone or call anyone in early so she called me.” Niall responds nonchalantly, popping another blueberry candy in his mouth.

“And you came? Aren't you like, in love with sleeping?” Harry asks with a slight smirk on his lips. He starts walking closer to the back room and hovers a bit until Niall answers his question.

“Not as much as I'm in love with the candy here.” Niall answers sucking on one of the candies and Harry snorts, shakes his head and walks into the back to put his stuff away and grab his apron.

“You're going to get a cavity.” Harry yells out to Niall as he slips his head through the apron and ties it around his back.

“No I'm not. My dentist tells me I have the best teeth he's ever seen.”  Niall yells back a slight smile on his lips. Harry walks back out with a smile on his face and he lies down on top of Niall, getting an ‘oof’ out of the older boy. “Hey.” Niall says because hey.

“Hey.” Harry laughs out and thinks Niall's about  48% sweet enough. He tries to ignore the little butterflies he feels in his stomach and the thought that Niall might actually be 52% sweet enough as he rolls off of Niall and lays beside him. He picks up some of the candy Niall's eating and rolls it a bit between his forefinger and thumb before looking back at the blonde. “You've paid for this right?”

“Yeah, of course.” Niall answers giving Harry this look like he’s absolutely _mad_ for thinking that he might possibly have stolen this candy.

“How do you have enough money to buy all this candy?” Harry asks as he puts the candy he was holding in his mouth and sucks on it a bit.

“My mommy.” Harry laughs at how innocent and cute Niall sounded before lightly punching him in the shoulder. “I'm kidding, I have a job too, you know.” Niall says, laughing a little.

“That's hard to believe.” Harry says looking up at the ceiling. Niall mocks fake hurt before punching Harry in the arm a little harder than Harry punched him. “Ow!”

“Hey!”

“What? You're always here! I just—.” Harry starts to defend himself but Niall starts laughing and Harry relaxes a bit. They're always laughing together and it's become so familiar and comfortable and warm and maybe Niall is 59% sweet enough.

“I sing, mate.” Niall says voice deep as he tries to stop laughing.

“You—? You're famous?” Harry asks a bit shocked and star struck because what if Niall actually is famous he’ll be talking to a famous person and wow that’s so cool—Niall’s laughing again.

“No—well. Not yet, at least or I'm hoping.” Niall finally says after his laughing calms a bit and Harry nods his head.

“Where do you sing?” Harry feels like he’s bothering Niall with all these questions but that smile Niall has on his lips as he picks up another candy and places it on his tongue tells Harry that Niall doesn’t mind.

“My shower.” Niall says looking over at Harry. Harry punches him again. “Ow! Okay, okay, I sing Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s nights at the little coffee shop a few blocks over.”

“Can I hear you sing sometime?” Harry's surprised by how quiet it came out and he almost thinks Niall didn't hear him and is about to repeat himself when Niall smiles at him.

“Yeah.” He says and places another candy on his tongue. They hear someone clear their throat and look over to where it came from to find Eleanor standing by the counter with her arms crossed and a fond smile on her lips.

“Now that you guys have finally made a date can you get to work Harry? Zayn's got the later shift so I kind of need you.” She has this smile and look on her face and both boys turn bright red. Eleanor giggles before turning to walk behind the counter. Harry's a stuttering mess next to Niall and Niall's never seen that shade of red that's on Harry's cheeks before and he thinks it's really pretty.

Harry just nods and gets up.

___

Zayn's got a girlfriend. Harry didn’t know this, but everyone else seem to have because they all smile at the girl following behind Zayn and eyeing the chocolate covered walnuts Harry stocked earlier. Eleanor scolds Zayn after she says hi to the girl.

“What? Harry's always got his boyfriend around.” Zayn defends and the girl behind Zayn looks at Harry and his cheeks start to feel hotter.

“I don't have a—?” He asks because, well, he doesn’t.

“Niall?" Zayn asks and Harry’s face feels even hotter and his shirt feels tighter and oh. That’s not—.

“What?” Niall asks from where he was looking at the candy near the front when he heard his name.

“You're dating Harry right?" Zayn yells over to him as he puts his arm around a pretty girl with purple hair and blue eyes and thin lips but a sweet smile anyway. She has a deep dimple in her left cheek and it reminds Niall of Harry's dimples and he kind of really wants to poke it. That’s when he realizes it’s Perrie and she dyed her hair. He met her one day when Harry was off on his break and she came in to give Zayn his lunch that he forgot at home. Niall thought it was adorable.

“Uh.” He starts because what? He looks over at Harry who's biting his lip and blushing and not making eye contact with him and he thinks—. No. They’re not, no. “No? I mean. Yes? Uh.” Zayn raises an eyebrow in question. Are they?

“No, I'm not dating Harry.” It was supposed to be a statement but it came out more like a question and Zayn's still waiting for an answer, but Niall’s not sure if he can give him one. “Well, we kind of have a date—no wait. I um. He's going to hear me sing sometime next week.” He's faintly aware of the heat on his cheeks and Harry's faintly aware of the fact that he thinks that Niall is 67% sweet enough. There's a nice little giggle and Niall looks to Perrie tucked under Zayn's arm. “What?”

“If you guys aren't dating then you definitely fancy each other at least.” She says still giggling a little and Niall can’t help but smile a little bit.

“He's sweet.” Harry whispers as if that'll explain everything and Niall’s stomach does flips.

“He's adorable.” Niall replies and Eleanor gives him a smirk.

___

Eleanor let Perrie stay because even though she scolded Zayn, she still loves the girl and loves having her around the store. She sings a lot and sounds very good so no one really minds. Sometimes they even give her requests and she giggles and starts overdramatically singing the song to stifle out a laugh from them. It’s all good fun and they all love her.

“You guys don't get many costumers.” She points out once everyone's outside and Harry's locking the door to close shop.

“Nope. Niall's really our only costumer.” Harry says after the doors locked and throws his arm around Niall's shoulders. Perrie and Eleanor share a knowing smile and Zayn just rolls his eyes before turning around and Niall's pretty sure he saw a smile on his face. Niall’s not sure why or what Harry’s doing but he really likes it and feels a fluttering going on in his tummy.

“How are you guys still open?” She asks, giggling a little and grabbing onto Zayn’s bicep. She glances at him and they share a smile before Zayn turns around and puts his arm around Perrie’s waist, snuggling into her neck a little. It’s so adorable Niall might just puke.

“Niall practically buys the whole store each time.” Harry responds, tightening his grip around Niall's shoulders and Niall really hopes the cool air around them will be enough to make him not blush. He chuckles a bit like it’s some sort of inside joke him and Niall have and Niall thinks that maybe it is.

Perrie nods her head in understanding with a small smile on her lips. Zayn whispers something into the part of Perrie’s neck where he snuggled his face in and she makes a face. Niall thinks that maybe it tickled or something because he makes the same face when he gets tickled too.

“Alright, well, it was nice seeing you all again and nice meeting you Harry, but Zayn has to piss and doesn’t want to miss Britain and Ireland’s Next Top Model.” She says with a giggle which earns a glare from Zayn and it makes her giggle even harder.  Still she laces her fingers with Zayn's and waves goodbye to each of them before they walk off down the street together.

“They're so cute.” Niall mumbles and Harry nods his head in agreement, mumbles a quiet yeah. Eleanor slings her arm around Harry and puts as much of her weight on Harry's shoulder as she can, causing them to go off balanced a bit and Niall to stumble even closer into Harry’s side.

“Yeah they are cute aren't they?” She asks letting out a content hum while smiling. Niall tries to straighten himself by putting his arm around Harry’s waist and his other hand on Harry’s tummy but Harry holds Niall even tighter and he sort of freezes and doesn’t want to move. “You guys are cuter though.” She rushes in before standing up properly and running off to her car throwing a quick bye over her shoulder to the two blushing boys.

“Uh...” Harry mumbles once they’ve stood properly again and Niall faces him.

“Hey.” Harry's sure Niall's about 75% sweet enough.

___

Niall tells Harry that he can hear him sing this coming Tuesday and when Tuesday arrives, Harry feels like he's going to puke. They've only ever hung out at the candy store and Harry's never heard Niall sing except for those times when he catches him humming under his breath or the short moments when he sings loud enough to actually hear his voice, but it's always too quick and short lived to really tell if he can sing or not.

He's nervous and shaking and his throat is really dry all day and he's not sure if the feeling in his stomach is butterflies or that he has to puke. He ends up skipping lunch, just to be safe.

Luckily today he has the early shift and when his shift is finally over he's rushing home to quickly change and maybe shower and he might even put on the nice cologne his roommate has. He's not going to tell him though, of course not.

“Hey, Liam.” He says after rushing through the door and seeing him sitting on the couch flipping through the channels on the telly.

“Hey.” He hears Liam yell when he’s in his room. “Why are you running?” His voice seems closer now and Harry turns around to see him standing in his bedroom doorway.

“Have you seen my plaid shirt?” he asks, rushing past Liam to look in the hall closet for a clean towel.

“Which one?” Liam asks never leaving his spot in Harry’s doorway.

“I have more than one?” Harry asks a little out of breath and grabs out a towel and turns to walk back to his room.

“Yeah you have two.” Liam answers and Harry thinks he might have a smile on his face with how his voice sounds so amused.  

“Oh. Well the colorful one, that's kind of orange and—.” He starts, eyebrows furrowed as he’s looking on his bedroom floor underneath all his dirty clothes for the shirt when Liam butts in.

“It's in your closet, mate.” Harry stops and turns his head to look in his closet. It's there.

“Huh. It is.” He says a small smile twitching his lips.

“Did you even look in your closet?” Liam asks. It’s kind of a stupid question because he and Harry both know he already knows the answer.

“Not really.” Harry answers anyway, grabbing it off its hook and throwing it on his bed, grabbing a pair of jeans and throwing them on his bed as well.

“Why are you getting dressed anyway?” Liam asks as Harry grabs out a fresh pair of boxers and socks from his dresser.

“I have a date—no! It's not a date, or. Maybe it is, I don't know. I want it to be, but it's probably not, but it actually might be, I don't know.” Harry rambles as he grabs his towel and starts to walk to the bathroom.

“Well did he say it was a date?” He stops in the bathroom doorway and turns to face Liam.

“Not exactly. He kind of did, but then he—.”

“It's a date.” Liam says with a small smile.

“But how do you know?” Harry asks exasperatedly.

“He accidentally said it was a date, which means he wants it to be one but is too shy to ask for one.” Harry smiles at Liam.

“Alright, thanks Liam, you’re the best.” He says shutting the door and jumping in the shower.

___

He arrives at the coffee shop a few blocks over 5 minutes early because he wants to see Niall before he plays and he hopes that he looks nice enough and that he's not overdressed or too early and he slowly starts freaking out before he sees blonde tufts of hair and sugary blue eyes and a sweet smile. Harry would really like to kiss him and see if he tastes as sweet as he looks.

“Hey you made it.” Harry's really not sure what it is but his voice sounds more sugary than before.

“Of course, you think I would miss hearing you sing?” Harry asks with something in his voice that sounds a lot like _I wouldn’t miss it for the world_. Niall shrugs.

“I was hoping you wouldn't.” He laughs a little and Harry tastes syrup on the tip of his tongue. There's a man behind Niall that calls his name and he looks back. The man yells something that Harry can't hear and does a gesture with his hand and Niall nods before looking back at Harry.

“I have to go on now. See you soon.” Harry nods and before he knows what he's doing his lips are pressed against Niall's cheek. It's warm and soft and for some reason Harry tastes sugar on his lips.

When he pulls back Niall's stuttering and blushing and he remembers when he did that in the candy store a few days ago. He's pretty sure he didn't look as cute as Niall does though. Niall just smiles and then starts walking over to the little stage.

He steps on it and everyone cheers and Niall waves to a few people. He sits on the little stool on the stage and pulls the guitar that Harry didn't see before onto his lap before speaking into the microphone.

“Hi, everyone.” There were a few shouts from people sitting at the tables and Harry thinks that everyone loves Niall here. “So, tonight's pretty special. I have a special friend here tonight to hear me sing for the first time.” Harry tries to ignore the way his stomach flutters at the _'special friend'_ as people cheer and a few girls evidently get disappointed that they’re crush has someone else.

“So I'm going to sing a special song tonight.” Niall's eyes lock on Harry's and Harry forgets how to breathe. “This is for you.” Niall looks away from Harry to look at the positioning of his fingers on the guitar before he begins to strum.

When Niall starts singing Harry chokes on his spit and has trouble breathing because he's _so good_ and he never knew, wishes he did. After he regains his breath he watches Niall and listens. He still tastes the sugar on his lips and he's reminded of the chocolate truffles he almost dropped and that lollipop he sold Niall when he first started working at the candy store and the sugary blueberry candies Niall loves so much and that they ate together on the floor. Niall looks at him and Harry sees a slight smile on his face and Harry smiles back because Niall’s smile is so sweet.

 _'Can you find the time to let your lover hold you. You need somebody to hold you. His love is strong and so true, his arrow's aiming for you, and he's the one that you were born to love.'_ Harry looks around the room and sees everyone in the building with content smiles on their faces and a few couples sneaking quick sweet kisses before looking back at Niall and watching him sing.

 _'Love like this may come once. Baby it's fate, like a soul mate. He's your penguin. Baby it's fate, baby it's fate. Not luck.'_ Harry remembers the first time he saw Niall and how the butterflies in his stomach went crazy and how cute and confused Niall looked when he didn't see Eleanor or Zayn and saw Harry instead. He remembers how couldn’t stop smiling and blushing the first time Niall said he was adorable. Niall's looking at him now and he's sure, so very sure that Niall is 100% sweet enough and just like that Harry’s gone, completely smitten with the boy.

 _'Love like this is all I want. Baby we're fate. Love like this may come once. Baby we're fate, like a soul mate. You're my penguin. Baby we're fate. Baby it's fate. Not luck.'_ The songs over and everyone's cheering and clapping but Niall's still looking at Harry and Harry's still looking at Niall and Harry notices the faint tint of red on Niall's cheeks before Niall's telling the crowd he's going to take a five minute break before he's going to sing again.

He walks off stage and over to Harry and Harry stuffs his hands awkwardly into his pockets and Niall's biting his lip and everything is just so shy and awkward and they're not sure what this is—what _they_ are. Harry gives Niall a little wave and Niall giggles.

“You're adorable.”

___

Niall decides to walk Harry back to his house because Harry lives fairly close enough to the coffee shop. Like, four blocks away.

It's quiet and shy and Niall kind of keeps twirling his body and looking at Harry like he's about to say something but decides against it. And Harry may or may not have stepped closer and _'accidentally'_ bumped hands with Niall. He may or may not have wanted to Niall to get the message that he wanted to hold hands with him either. Niall did though and he tentatively wraps his fingers in between Harry's, smiling shyly at him.

They made it to Harry's house all too soon for Niall's taste and he tightens his grip on Harry's hand when he feels Harry slowly start unwrapping them.

“Hey.” Harry says. It’s quiet and comforting and sweet like honey and Niall leans into the hand Harry pressed against his cheek. “What's wrong?”

Niall laughs a little to himself and shakes his head, looking down at his feet as he scuffs the toe of his trainers against the concrete. “It's just.” He wrinkles his nose and Harry thinks it’s the cutest thing ever. “I don't want you to go.”

Harry felt fluttering in his stomach and chest and he tightens his grip on Niall's hand. Niall might just be too sweet, Harry decides as Niall starts laughing softly again. “It's kind of stupid but.” He looks up at Harry and is about to speak again before he feels the feeling of chapped lips ghosting over his own. His breath hitches in his throat when he feels them press just a little bit harder against his own before they're gone completely.

Harry stares blankly and numbly at the spot Niall once occupied as he hears the sound of trainers hitting the sidewalk as they run off away from Harry.

___

“You did what!” Eleanor screeches and Niall has to take the phone off his ear in order to not damage his hearing.

“I just. Ran.” Niall says as he slumps his shoulders a bit.

“Why? I thought you liked him?”

“I do but—wait, how do you know I like him?” There's a soft chuckle coming from the other end of the phone and Niall glares at the wall in front of him.

“You never exactly said you didn’t.” Eleanor replies, still laughing a little. Niall rolls his eyes.

“Doesn’t mean that I do.” He says matter-of-factly.

“You do though, right? It’s pretty obvious, babe.” Niall sighs.

“I'm such an idiot, El.”

“That’s the problem, Niall.”

___

Niall doesn't go to the candy store the next day.

Or the next two weeks.

___

Niall's sad and tired and feels a bit broken because he screwed things up and he’s such an idiot and he hates himself for practically everything. If he wasn't so _scared_ and wasn’t such a coward he would've gone to the candy store the next day and apologized to Harry exactly how Harry stopped him from rambling. But he didn’t and that just adds to the list of reasons why he hates himself.

He just wishes that he wouldn’t have ran, would’ve stayed and kept kissing Harry and then maybe just a little more would’ve happened. Or even just even more kissing until they’re lips are bruised and numb and tingly and they fall asleep. Niall would be perfectly fine with doing either of those, but he fucked up his chances because he was so scared and of what, exactly?

Possibly loving Harry more than he’d like to admit? Harry loving him back?

Niall doesn’t even _know_ and that really frustrates him, makes him want to rip his hair out and scream until his voice dies out. He hasn’t even moved from his bed for the past two weeks, only to go piss and to eat; even then he sulked and told himself he didn’t deserve any of it. Because he doesn’t. Because he’s an idiot who fucked things up with Harry. All because he was scared.

It doesn't make sense at all either because he really wanted Harry to kiss him, and then he ran without telling Harry that he was just being stupid or joking or any type of excuse that would make things better and have Harry kissing him again. He doesn’t even think he’s able to face Harry anyway and for the past two weeks Harry's called him at least five times a day. Niall never picked up.

___

Another two weeks pass and Harry’s eventually stopped calling. He really misses seeing Eleanor, and Zayn, especially _Harry_ , and is about to make himself some sympathy tea and maybe, most likely eat that tub of vanilla ice cream he bought a while ago when he finds Eleanor sitting on one of his bar stools looking around the kitchen.

“Uh, hello?” He asks slowly because what the fuck.

“Your flat is cute. It's so _tiny_.” She says before finally looking at Niall and seeing the mess he is and laughing a bit. “Wow, you look like shit.”

“Thanks Eleanor.” He says sarcastically and gives her a mocking smile because he’s not in the mood for this. He’s missed her, yeah, but he’s not in the mood for the jokes and teasing and just wants to mope around for the rest of his life or until he gets diabetes from all the ice cream he’ll be eating. “What are you doing here anyway? How did you even get in here?” He asks when she gets up and starts looking through his cupboards.

“Zayn and Perrie have this weird hobby of pretending to be spies or something.” She waves off dismissively. “And you should really lock your door.” Niall's eyebrows furrow together and he looks towards his front door.

“I thought I did—?”

“Anyway, you need to come back to the candy store. Harry's shit without you.” She breathes leaning her hands against the counter top. “He keeps whining about how stupid he is and how he's never going to find love and how he just wishes he could take back the kiss, but he really wants to kiss you again, but he's too scared to blah, blah, blah.” She finishes off with a roll of her eyes and walks into the living room. She looks around the room. “You really should clean.” She says with a disgusted look on her face.

“Wait—Harry still likes me?” Eleanor picks up a shirt off the coffee table and looks at it before letting it drop back to the table and turning to Niall.

“Well yeah.” She shrugs. “He thinks you hate him though.” She says after a moment’s pause and goes back to looking at the mess the living room is. Niall lets out a loud groan and rubs his hands over his face before carding his fingers through his hair. He's such an _idiot_ and if he wasn't so scared everything would be completely fine and he would be dating Harry and probably sneaking kisses at the candy store right now and. Niall just really, really hates himself for running.

“What am I going to do, Eleanor?” He asks finally, desperately.

“Huh?” Eleanor perks up at her name after picking up a few empty bags of crisps and dirty plates from the floor and coffee table. “I don't know, fix it?” she says, shrugging and walking past Niall to put the stuff she's holding in the right place.

“I know that, but _how_?” Niall follows after her and watches as Eleanor tries to find a place in the full sink to put the few dirty plates. She ends up just putting it on the counter beside the sink before turning to Niall.

“Go to the candy store and apologize.” She states like it's the most obvious thing in the world—because it is—and Niall rolls his eyes at her. “Then after you say how sorry you are and how much of an idiot—”

“Hey!”

“—you are, you can kiss a little, then maybe a little more and then try to make man babies together.” Eleanor says, a small smirk forming on her lips when she sees Niall blush.  “Just not in the store, yeah?” She adds as an afterthought before turning back to the sink with a disgusted snarl on her lips. “When was the last time you cleaned?” She huffs under her breath, sticking her hands in the sink to start work on cleaning them.

___

“Do you want me to leave now?”

“Yes.”

“But—.”

“Go.”

“Do you think I'm dressed—?”

“Just _go_ , Niall.”

“But what if I make a right fool of myself? I’ve already messed things up once.”

“Listen,” Eleanor brings her hands up, holding Niall's arms and squeezing them gently. “You look great and you won't make a fool of yourself, I promise.” Niall smiles at her, gives her a tight hug before running out the door.

___

There's only one block left and Niall starts freaking out. His hands are clammy and his armpits are sweating and he starts tugging on the flannel shirt he's wearing thinking it's not good enough and wishing that he owned a well-tailored suit and was wearing that instead.

Should he have brought flowers? He _is_ apologizing for being an idiot on a date—was it even really a date?—and normally when a guy is apologizing for that they bring flowers, right? Or is it singing to them he has to do? Or does he have to go to Harry’s window late at night and throw rocks at it until Harry opens it and then start playing a song on a big boom box that he holds over his head? That sounds better, sounds more romantic and it was in a movie, so. Niall bets that Harry actually watched the movie and would be putty in his hands if he did that because come on. How could you resist that?

His chest starts heaving once he realizes he's only four stores down and he wishes his feet would stop and turn around and he would go back home and mope around in his boxers while Eleanor cleans and scowls him for chickening out but baby him nonetheless.

There's the familiar taste of sugar in his mouth he always seems to get when he's about to step into the candy store and he only realizes he's actually inside it when he hears Zayn call his name.

Harry's there and he's staring at Niall and Niall is staring at him and hoping that it's not obvious that he's having trouble breathing. Harry looks kind of pained and broken to see Niall and Niall wants to kick himself for doing that to Harry. There's dainty little arms around his shoulders and he smells something pretty and it's intoxicating in a good way and he realizes it's Perrie when he tries to turn his head to see who it is and is met with purple hair.

“Hi, Perrie.” He says distractedly. He’s not really paying attention to her, more to Harry and neither one of them seem to want to look away but want nothing more than to do just that at the same time. It’s weird, but Niall gets it.

“Hi Niall, where have you been?” This is when Niall really acknowledges her and breaks his staring with Harry. He looks at her and sees her forehead creased with concern and her eyes full of worry and betrayal like he could’ve been in the hospital dying and never told her or called to say goodbye. Niall thinks she was worried sick about him and feels guilty and like shit for avoiding the phone for four weeks.

“I've just been. Um, I've been.” His throat his still dry and tight and his chest is heaving harder and he keeps looking towards Harry who keeps glancing his way every so often. “Excuse me.” He politely walks past her and towards Harry who is near the counter putting some of the candy on the shelves behind it. “Still on shelf duty?” It's a weak attempt at trying to lighten the tension and make small talk but it still gets Harry's attention and Niall breathes out a deep breath.

“Yeah.” He says dryly before going back to putting the candy on the shelves. It hurts Niall but he understands and thinks he deserves it. He really does. He’s been a proper arse for avoiding all contact with each of them just because he was scared so he understands why Harry’s treating him like this, he would too. It's quiet for a while and Niall hears Harry sigh before he turns around. “Where have you been?” It’s so nonchalant and uncaring that Niall just wishes the ground would open up and Satan himself would come out to take him down personally.

“At home.” Niall laughs a little to make the conversation light but Harry still has the same blank look on his face and Niall coughs to clear his throat, looking down at his hands fiddling with the ends of his flannel. “Hiding from you, I guess.” He says truthfully because he has, hasn’t he?

“Why? Because I kissed you? You could've just told me you didn't like me, you didn't have to lead me on.” It's harsh and venomous and Niall winces a little, hopes Satan would drag him down instead.

“I wasn't leading you on.” He whispers. It’s kind of watery with the tears that are rimming his eyes and he really hopes Harry heard him.

“Then why did you run?” This time Harry's whispering and it sounds so hurt that Niall takes a chance and glances up at him, his heart breaking at how hurt Harry _looks_.

“I was scared.”  Niall says, still whispering.

“Of what?” It’s venomous again but Niall hears the slight exasperated laugh that slips out of Harry’s mouth with the words.

“That you didn't mean it.” Niall blinks a few times to try and get rid of the tears that are threatening to fall and he looks in Harry's eyes, seeing the tears that Harry's making no move to try and hide.

“Of course I meant it, Niall.” He says softer now.

“I didn't know—.”

“Well now you do.” Harry says confidently and they smile a little at each other. Niall thinks that maybe things are good now; at least he _hopes_ things are good now. Even if Harry doesn’t want to give Niall another chance—he doesn’t expect him to anyway, even though he really wants him to—at least they’re still friends.

“Oh for love of god, kiss him already!” They both look over to Perrie and Zayn and see Zayn giggling in Perrie's ear in a failed attempt at telling her to be quiet and Perrie with a smirk on her lips that turns into a soft smile. Niall laughs a little at how cute they are and looks back at Harry when suddenly there's chapped lips pressing firmly but sweetly against his and a warm hand on his cheek. It disappears all too quickly and Niall chases it with his eyes still closed.

He feels the lips against his again and he’s happy, so fucking happy and thankful for Eleanor coming to his flat earlier. This feels right, feels like everything good in the world and he doesn’t know why he was scared before. A tongue slips into his mouth and meets his with a shock rushing through his body and Niall’s never been so sure of something in his life.

___

They really should’ve expected this. Like seriously, if Zayn and Perrie give them shit for this. It was all leading up to this anyway and they got the perfect opportunity so why waste it.

Niall’s got his back pressed against a rack of, he thinks it may be cleaning stuff but he came in with his eyes closed and mouth pressed against Harry’s so he never really got the chance to look, in a closet in the back room. His nails are digging into Harry’s shoulder and his teeth bite into Harry’s bottom lip.

Harry lets out a porn star moan and Niall stops breathing for a moment. He kicks Niall’s feet apart and slides his leg in between them. A violent shake moves through him when he feels Niall rutting against his thigh and the hot press of his hard dick against it.

Niall kisses him hard and rough and Harry’s hands push up Niall’s shirt a bit, press firmly against the skin there. Harry moves from Niall’s lips to his neck and kisses all the way down until he meets his collarbone and looks him in the eye instead. He kisses Niall once more before dropping to his knees and moving to start unbuttoning his trousers. Niall kind of watches him in a daze because holy shit is this really happening.

His head drops back and his eyes flutter closed when he feels Harry’s lips around him. Harry tugs on the part that he can’t fit in his mouth and the moans that are coming out of Niall’s mouth sound so filthy and hot that Harry starts palming himself through his own jeans.

Eventually Niall comes in Harry’s mouth and smiles down at him when he pulls off. He helps Harry up and kisses the corner of his mouth before dropping to his own knees. Harry’s eyes go a little wide and Niall giggles up at him.

“What? Thought I was going to just leave you?” Niall asks before unbuttoning Harry’s jeans.

___

Eleanor comes in a few hours later grumbling to herself that Niall’s unbelievable and a slob and he should really just, clean for once. She is _never_ cleaning that kids house ever again, she decides with a snarl on her lip.

She’s actually in a shit mood and doesn’t want to do anything and she’s so fucking _grateful_ that she’s assistant manager and her dad owns the store because then it’ll be easy to slack off.

Perrie’s sitting on the floor in front of the rack of stringed licorice eating a box of candy gumdrops and Eleanor says hi to her on her way to the back room. That’s really all she notices in her grumpy walk to the back room and she nearly screams when she comes back out and sees Harry sneaking a kiss to Niall’s cheek in the corner of the front end of the store.

“Fucking finally.” She manages to say once the shock of it all wears off and Niall and Harry look at her with a smile on their lips like they know something she doesn’t. “I’m never cleaning your house again, Niall.” Eleanor adds. Niall laughs and snorts out a fine. Like he was going to make her anyway, he’s not that much of an arse.

___

“This song’s great.” Niall says the next day, sitting next to Perrie on the floor. She’s been coming more and more often since she’s gotten a bit attached to each of them. No one’s really complaining. Perrie nods her head in agreement and starts humming along. “Who picked it?”

“I did.” Harry says from where he’s hanging Candy Buttons on little hooks coming out of the walls. Niall smiles at him and kind of silently thanks Harry for introducing him to this fantastic song.

“What’s it called?” Niall asks and smiles a little bigger when he sees Harry smiling a bit to himself.

“In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel. Makes me think of you.” Harry says, blushing a little. Niall’s tummy feels like it’s set on fire and he can’t help but lay on the ground and stuff his face in his arms.

“You guys are gross.” Zayn says from where he’s sitting behind the counter and Eleanor laughs loudly in the chair near him. Niall blindly flips him the bird and misses Zayn’s fond smile for the two of them. The song plays on for a little while longer and Niall just listens and let’s his mind wander a bit until—.

“This is from that movie!” He shouts moving to sit on his knees. Harry looks at him and smiles, nods a little.

“Yeah, Say Anything.” Harry answers. They all faintly hear Eleanor mumbling ‘fucking love that movie’.

“Right, forgot the title. Really love that movie.” He says a little to Perrie but more to himself. “You know I was thinking of holding a boom box over my head and playing a song for you just like the movie when I was being an idiot and going to apologize.” Niall tells Harry in one breath and Harry kind of swoons a little at the thought. He grabs out another thing of Candy Buttons when he feels hands wrap around his hips and a body pressing against his back.

Niall starts swaying them a little side to side and murmurs the lyrics in Harry’s ear. He starts pressing little kisses against Harry’s neck and mumbling the lyrics there when they hear a little ‘aw’ come from Perrie from where she’s still sitting on the floor. Niall snorts and starts giggling into Harry’s shoulder and Harry giggles and puts the Candy Buttons on the hook.

Niall kind of secretly decides that it’s their song and sings it that night at the coffee shop.

___

“So.” Niall begins when they arrive in front of Harry’s flat later that day.

“So.” Harry repeats and bumps Niall’s hip with his own. Niall smiles at him before looking at the ground shyly.

“You divorce that butthead of a roommate yet?” Niall asks to the ground. Harry laughs and Niall looks up at him, watches his face in adoration.

“I did, actually, yeah.” Harry replies trying to hide his smile.

“Oh?” Niall asks and Harry nods his head.

“Divorced him a long time ago if I’m being quite honest.” Harry says with a smile and taps Niall’s foot with his own.

“Now why would you go and do a silly thing like that?” Niall asks just to be a little shit about things. He knows the answer; he just wants to hear Harry say it, thinks it’ll be sugary sounding and make his mouth taste like candy floss.

“I kind of want to marry someone else.” He decides on saying just to throw him off. Niall feels his cheeks heat, remembers the first day they met and the teasing that came so easily.

“And who’s that?” Niall plays along. Harry shrugs a little.

“You.” Harry looks at Niall and sees a bright smile splitting his lips before he’s biting his bottom lip and looking down at the ground.

“Maybe." He whispers, a shy smile on his face and Harry smiles.

“Maybe?" Harry asks, quirking an eyebrow.

“If you're sweet enough." Niall answers and Harry laughs, tells him to shut up before pressing his mouth to the corner of Niall’s.

___

“So, pink?” Niall asks eyebrows furrowed.

“Yeah.” Perrie answers with a shrug. Niall looks at Zayn.

“Pink?” He asks more like a statement. Zayn shrugs and nods his head, lips pursed cutely. Perrie’s hair’s pink now. Like candy floss and Niall actually kind of likes it, he’s just worried she’s going to lose all her hair from how often she dyes it.

“What if I dyed my hair pink?” Niall asks looking at Harry. Harry purses his lips while he thinks and Niall quickly presses a chaste kiss there before leaning back and waiting for the answer.

“Mm, no. You’ll look kind of weird since your cheeks always seem to be that color anyway. Purple maybe. Yeah, purple’s good. Purple’ll look great on you. Hot, even.” Harry decides and Niall laughs at him, throws a tootsie roll at his nose. 


End file.
